If there’s a single mistake that I can identify in the current marketplace, it’s choosing the wrong agent to help them list their home.  Here’s the catch:  Every listing agent you meet with is going to tell you that they’re the right person to get the job done!

How Do You Choose?

    Who do you believe?  What criteria is used to determine how quickly your home is going to be sold, and at what price?  Everyone approaches this problem a little differently, and those differences can make a big difference between getting your house sold and having it languish on the market.

    The common mistake I see is people who select an agent based on what the agent says the sales price should be.

Over-promising, Under-delivering

    I sold a home in Waldorf this year, in the Bannister subdivision.  The owner wanted to make sure that it sold quickly, and we spoke frankly about the market and what it would bear.  When the home sold, it took a lot of hard negotiation, but the price came in exactly where we said it would from the get-go.  The homeowner was have to have sold it, and our honest opinion of the homes value was very accurate.

    Low and behold, the next door neighbors decided that they wanted to sell their home as well.  They had seen our sign go up, saw the mailers we sent out when the home went on the market, and saw that the property sold quickly.  They did their homework and asked my clients about the sale.  They heard that the contract on the home was right in line with what they had expected, and so they decided to give us a call to see about listing their home.

    I did the market analysis on the property to determine the value and likely sales price, taking into account improvements, quality of maintenance, etc. and sat down to discuss their home.  When I explained to them where and why I felt the value of the home would fall, they were unhappy, to say the least.

    I explained the fact that the market is dropping, and overpricing their home would lead to it selling for even less than my assessment had come in at, and they decided they wanted to get a second opinion on their home’s value.  I suggested that we could list the home for what they wanted and then re-evaluate the price if we didn’t see any buyers.

    As I left their house, I suspected that because my evaluation was too low there was no way I was going to be getting the listing.  I could understand their frustration with me.  This was THEIR home.  How could I not see the true value of their property??

    A week later, the home was listed with another agent, and more than 10% higher than my CMA came in at.  I had lost the listing because my evaluation was too low.  I was disappointed, but I knew there was no way the property could sell at that price.

    4 months later, the property was under contract.  It had been listed at $334k, and when it finally sold, the closing price was $298k.  Nearly 12% difference between list price and sales price!  They had let the home sit for 4 months through a falling market and were forced to lower the price to just under what it’s sales value had been when they had listed it.

    The mistake was in choosing an agent based off of their value opinion.

What Should You Look For?

    Because each agent approaches the way to get a home sold differently, you need to look at the big picture.  What does the agent do marketing-wise?  Not all agents spend the same amount of money on their listings, so you need to be confident that your agent is going to MARKET your property well.

    Ask yourself this:  Is it possible that your home is overpriced?  If it’s not, then you should be getting buyers in to see your home.

    If you are seeing buyers, are they writing offers?  If they’re not, then you may need to re-evaluate the price, or consider home staging to make the home more appealing.  If your home is not in tip-top shape, you’re not going to see top dollar on your investment.

    As the market continues to get tighter, I see more and more agents list homes without the right tools to get them sold, and I hear more and more stories from homeowners who haven’t been able to move.  Selecting the right Realtor can be the difference between whether or not you get that home sold!

    Is your home visible on the internet?  Online marketing is the number one way that people view homes that they might be interested in buying.  make sure that your agent is using innovative methods to help promote your home.  Are you listed on Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com, Craigslist, etc?  You need to be!  There’s no reason why you wouldn’t want your home to be seen by as many potential buyers as possible!

    Think about what your potential agent does to market properties, and make sure that you’re getting someone who has the best potential to get your home SOLD.  Selecting an agent based off of their price analysis can be a serious mistake. 

    Ask your Realtor if they’d be willing to start at a higher price so that you can see for yourself how much traffic the listing gets if you’re unsure of their evaluation.  Any good agent is going to be willing to work with you and possibly list your home for more than they recommend to help ease your fears.  We’re professionals, but we’re also human, and we all make mistakes from time to time, so if you feel it would be better to start higher and work down, that’s completely understandable!

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000
301-653-8116
Waldorf and Southern Maryland Real Estate
Southern Maryland Real Estate Blog

    Let me be the first to offer you my sincere condolences; it’s a
tough market, and there’s many people like yourself who are angry about
the fact that they can’t sell their home.

    It’s easy to blame your Realtor, after all, didn’t they tell you
that they could get the job done?  People count on my knowledge and
advice to get their house sold, and if that doesn’t happen, then
there’s a problem.  Did your Realtor tell you to list it too high?  Did
they tell you that you were asking too much?  If you feel that the
price was right, and it still didn’t sell, then maybe there’s other
factors involved, so consider looking at all the angles before getting to frustrated.

    It’s a fact that 10% of all local agents do 80% of the local
sales.  Is your agent in the top 20%?  They should be!  There’s no
great mystery to being able to get deals done in a slow market, but
there are a few factors that you should consider.

    Sales Are Down, And Inventory Is Up- We
are seeing historically high levels of available homes for sale.  This
is great news for buyers, but for sellers it becomes vital to use an agent with the track record to get your home  sold!

    Internet Marketing is King- Agents that aren’t tech savvy just can’t compete in today’s marketplace.  That’s why Team Benya is a combination of mature experience that knows how to negotiate the toughest deals and technologically hip experts that understand how to market properties in the internet age!

    Internet Marketing Means A Lot More Than Realtor.Com- Is
your agent spending the money to get your home marketed to more than
just one website?  Understanding how to syndicate listings to dozens of
different websites means your home gets more exposure than your
competition down the street!  Team Benya are experts at doing this for
all the Waldorf and Southern Maryland Real Estate that they market!

    You Deserve to Know What Your Agent Is Doing For You- Did
your agent "list it and forget it"?  You don’t have to stand for that!
There is simply no excuse for a homeowner to be left out of the loop!
We work hard to ensure our clients always know what is going on in the
marketing and sale of their home, good or bad!  Selling real estate in
Southern Maryland with Team Benya means you’ll always be kept in the
loop!

    Not All Agents Are Equal- We
all have our own style and method to getting homes sold, and some
agents are better at getting homes sold.  There’s far too many agents
that got their license thinking this was an "Easy Money" job.  Do you really want to risk trying to sell your home with an agent that has no experience in this type of market?

Really, the question is why are you even considering using anyone else to sell your home??  Lets look at the facts:

• We have over a decade of experience
• Marsha has proven to be a consistent top producer, constantly exceeding client expectations!
• Using a Team allows more time and resources to be dedicated to your needs than a single agent can provide
• Our knowledge and experience includes Short Sales, Foreclosures, 1031 Exchange, Land, and more!
• We’ve studied how to help you gain an edge in getting your house seen and sold by prospective buyers
• Your home will be seen on dozens of home listing websites and
  databases with multiple photos, virtual tour, internet advertisements,
  and blog resources available to get your home sold!
• Old School Sales Experience and New School Technology provide YOU with the best opportunity to get your home sold fast!

Don’t make the same mistake twice, call us today and see how we can turn that For Sale sign into SOLD!  We work throughout the Southern Maryland region, specializing in Waldorf MD, La Plata MD, Indian Head MD, White Plains MD, Mechanicsville MD, and the rest of Charles County, St. Mary’s County, Calvert County, and Prince George’s County!

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St.
La Plata, MD 20646
(o) 301-609-9000
(c) 301-653-8116

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Related Article:

What Your Realtor Is Afraid To Tell You

    Let me first apologize if you are trying to sell yourself and have gotten comments like this from an unfriendly Realtor.  You’ll find I won’t make such childish taunts, Promise!

    There are a ton of options if you are looking to try and save money by trying to list yourself, and I’m going to share a few of my options and techniques I use as a Realtor that you might be able to use yourself.  If you do find any of this helpful, let me know!

• Online Marketing is where I see my greatest ROI of my marketing dollars- Consider this: 80%+ of all buyers start their search online.  Aside from using websites like FSBO.com, ForSaleByOwner.com, or other such sites, consider posting your home on: Craigslist.com (yes, cragislist, it does work for selling homes, too!),  zillow.com, trulia.com , the City-Data.com forum, and iggyshouse.com.  They’re free to post, and at a price like that, it can’t hurt to increase your market exposure.
• Ask a Realtor to give you a CMA on your property- I’m always willing to provide a CMA for a homeowner, even if they intend to list their home themselves.  Websites like Zillow.com will give a *zestimate* for free, but I have yet to find their figures very accurate.  It can’t hurt to at least get a professional opinion. Email to Request a CMA
• Make Postcards to Send the Neighborhood-  Postcards are cheap to send, and it allows people to share the information with friends or relatives that may be looking to move to the neighborhood.
• Make Flyers Available in an Information Box-  Flyers are a great informational tool for people driviing by, just be prepared to refill the box often!
• Send your Flyer to Real Estate Brokerages-  If you’re willing to pay a buyers agent, let agents know!  Make sure you send enough that EACH AGENT can get their own copy, rather than one per office!
• Ask a Realtor if they’d be willing to post your listing on their website-  I always post FSBO home listings on my website/blogsite FREE OF CHARGE if someone asks.  It’s minimal cost to me, and I’m always willing to spread a little good will.

If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to call!  I don’t bite, and I don’t charge fees for advice (I heard that talk can be cheap, anyways)!  I do have a full package of HOW-TO for people that want to FSBO.  Give me a call or email me and I’d be more than happy to send it out to you.  All I ask is that IF you can’t sell your home yourself, consider giving me a call to see how I can assist you!

~Jonathan Benya

Century 21 New Millennium
Team Benya

j.benya@c21nm.com
cell- 301-653-8116

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